Korres Lip Butter Review, Photos, Swatches

Korres Lip Butter ($12.00 for 0.21 oz.) is a tinted lip balm; it promises a “shiny, tinted finish” with a “rich buttery” texture that “leaves lips deeply moisturized.” It appears that Korres is exiting Sephora, but Beautylish carries quite a few of Korres’ products, including the Lip Butters (which I had trouble finding at any other retailers)–readers are reporting that some local Sephoras will be keeping the skincare range, so we’ll see what stays and goes! Each shade in the range has a scent that is similar to its name, so Quince has a sweet, almost fruity scent, while Wild Rose has a subtle rosy scent, but both are subtle and I really didn’t notice them until I went back to double-check. The formula is light-medium in thickness, smooth, gel-like, and comfortable to wear. It’s very hydrating while worn as well as for a few hours after the color and shine have worn away. They are shorter-wearing, and they’re in a pot, which may be a deal-breaker for some.

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I just assume that based on various analyses, either Sephora or the brand themselves haven’t found it to be a profitable (or profitable *enough*) venture. We’ll never really know if it’s the brand or Sephora’s choice, lol!

I hear you Ryou! I buy my korres products from here – http://www.lookfantastic.com. How crazy is it to think that products shipped from the UK are still cheaper than buying them here in Aus?!? (and they have free worldwide delivery! 😀 )

Thank you for the link! I hear you on Aussie prices, it nearly gave me a heart attack when I first saw them upon moving here. Well, I guess doubling US prices makes sense 10 years ago, but now that the currencies are on par, not so much. :/

Yes exactly! I wish more US stores/brands shipped internationally, but many don’t unfortunately – makes it all the more difficult.. What gets me the most is when an Australian brand is cheaper in the US compared to Aus (*cough cough* Becca). I know wages here are much higher, but surely doubling the price is a tad ridiculous!

Another good link is kissandmakeupny.com who stock Nars, Laura Mercier etc and they have a flat rate international rate of $10 🙂 I’ve been using them for years, without any issues.

I hear you on Becca! I’ve seen brands reducing prices in the past year or so, namely after Illamasqua reduced their Australian prices to match their UK prices.

For some reason, it’s the luxury brands that reduced their prices the most. So far, I haven’t noticed any price reduction at Mecca Cosmetica and the like, but Guerlain, YSL, etc have lowered the prices enough that some nearly match US prices after conversion. Most are still ridiculous, though. :/

You only get the full Korres product line ( make up, skin care, nail polish, hair care etc.) in the U.S. and Australia from mysecretkshopper.com . They ship from Europe where Korres is from. I’ve been getting my Korres products from them for the past 3 years and I love their service, they always send a gift and samples. I can even get the Korres natural deodorants!

Christine, thanks SO MUCH for letting us know that some Korres is still available through Beautylish. Last time I went to their Korres USA website, it still connected to Sephora. The link above doesn’t work, though. I think it’s a typo (hhttp rather than http,) but I’m sure it’s still googlable. Googleable? Funny how every net noun has become a verb + an adjective. Always loved these. Not so much for the look, but for the hydration + lip care. I kind of think of them as Jack Black, minus the sunscreen, but plus a bit of color. I’ve found them to be quite healing. But JB has the advantage in having sunscreen, being more available, and cheaper. Did get a couple of K cherry lipglosses and the last magic light contouring powder trio at Sephora’s wrap up, marked down. Paula B’s beautypedia ranks Korres blushes as “BEST.” I don’t always agree with Paula on makeup….she gives some things a big neg “POOR” based on color drama or other esthetic measures, rather than sui generis. I think makeup can be natural, theatre, or whatever you want it to be. But a good review from Paula’s Choice will guarantee a good quality product, which is skin-friendly, and does what it says, barring individual sensitivities. Korres used to have a super selection of colored eyeliners, odd ones like matte pastels, which I don’t think are even on their Greek website. Ulta has some of the body line, + assume they will still carry it. I say, why not take on the makeup, too, if you are already distributing some of their products? There certainly are precedents for things leaving the big S and going to the big U.

But yes, Beautylish seems to have the whole line still and that’s a more recent acquisition. Since there is no store for Beautylish, I think there are good chances Korres isn’t just exiting the U.S. in full!

What I really like about Jack Black is that beyond it being very, very hydrating (still my personal favorite) is that it lasts awhile. I can put it on before bed, and I’ll wake up and still have some on – other lip balms will vanish by my 2 or 3AM wake up.

Korres is also frequently promoted on one of the home-shopping channels (I forget which, either QVC or HSN), so I don’t think they’re going away anytime soon. I just hope they start promoting more of the color cosmetics. The skincare seems to be doing quite well.

That’s what has been said at various stores as products have disappeared, but some readers are reporting total discontinuation and others have had their local Sephoras say skincare is being kept but color is phased out.

I totally get that, they are so expensive! $68 eyeshadow quads and $43 blushes, insane! Edward Bess is one of those brands that are difficult for me to purchase, very few stores accept non-US credit cards.

I know for me when I look to see whether I should review a luxury product or not, I really try to focus on what readers want to see, so while covering Edward Bess and his products is a worthwhile endeavor, trying to cover all shades – probably less so (relative to other products I could be potentially purchasing). Tom Ford continues to be the exception, as it is quite the popular brand despite the high price point! It’s a balancing act to try and cover a diverse range of products and price points, stay current and know what else is out there (helps me with the “big picture view” I can give from trying $50 and $5 eyeshadows!), while at the same making sure to review products readers want to see. In short, I WANT TO REVIEW EVERYTHING!

I’m sure it must be hard trying to balance reviews between cheap and expensive products, lips/eyes/face/nails and also try to figure out which brands your readers want to see! I definitely appreciate the reviews you do of less known brands, there are several brands that I wouldn’t even have heard of if it weren’t for this blog! Indie and luxury brands in particular are hard to find swatches and reviews of, so I always get super excited when I see those.

The pot is totally a deal breaker for me. I wish they would package these in a “squeezey tube” like Clarins Colour Quench Balm and so many other lip products. That’s what keeps me from buying these (my daughter loves them!)

I always felt these were lovely, not really worth the extreme hype they got a few years ago, but very good. The light pink one, I think Jasmine, smelled DIVINE and I think I went through two of them. My biggest issue was just that on the go, it’s not convenient to have a potted balm for me personally.

I have the Jasmine one and it’s wonderful! Also, I was at Sephora a couple of weeks ago and they said they were discontinuing most of the Korres line, but they were keeping the skincare stuff and the lip butters, so I think these are still going to be available at Sephora!

Ugh, I can’t believe Sephora will no longer carry Korres – but luckily Shoppers Drug Mart does carry Korres in Canada. I have had Korres lip butters in the past and I liked them very much. But not so fun dipping in your finger into a pot that will be likely contaminated with bacteria. The only downside and like you said, is a deal breaker to some (including me)!

I used these all the time when I woirrelevant to me bank. Between the arctic A/C always blasting, and constantly talking with customers, my lips were always at risk of drying out. I tried many balms, but this was the only one that worked. While it may have been “inconvenient” to keep a spatula at my window toapply, it was more convenient than having to exfoliate constantly, and apply healing products (that weren’t always the most pleasant scent, or comfortable). A spatula is so tiny, and takes up no space, so I didn’t see it as a big hassle. Besides, these lasted several hours, at least in terms of moisture, so I really only needed to reapply once in a shift.

Fortunately, Fresh Sugar runs a close second, and I still have a few untouched pots tucked away somewhere (along with some glosses), so until I can find another outlet, I’ve got options!

I “discovered” the brand quite by accident; the Sephora/JCP I frequented had the brand on a shelf that was tucked in the furthest corner of the store that got little foot traffic. I happened to be looking at fragrances, and dropped something, and on the bottom shelf across the way was Korres. I ended up with a few eyeshadows & a lip butter that day. I couldn’t resist supporting a Greek brand.

Even at other Sephora locations, the stock was limited, or the store didn’t carry it, at all…

Hi Christine…what a great review..I am so surprised that you guys in the US or every where else actually use korres…I am Greek and I couldn’t imagine that our beloved korres is so popular.so you made me really happy and proud.here in Greece korres is so cheap that you can’t imagine.and very often we buy 1+1 most of the products. As for these lip butters I love Jasmine for a nice everyday sheen..

I loved their blush in Natural – you got me hooked on it, Christine! I broke down one year and got three backups. (They were getting harder to find).

I love the lip butter in Jasmine too. Pretty color and smells like creme brulee. I keep a pot in my bathroom for night wear and I have the same color in a tube for on the go. I may have to stock pile on that too now.

it’s a milky nude pink. My first thought was “this is not going to look right on me” (I wear about the same shade as you and natural lip color may be just a hint darker). But with the sheerness of these lip butters, it actually worked out really nicely. I don’t get these apparent settling of color in my lip lines like I usually get with milky shades. This would be the product I would reach for if I were to go for that nude lip look. Like with the other shades, you do have limited wear time, maybe even less since it’s such a light shade. Overall, still one of my faves.

I should also add that between the Jasmine pot form and tube form, there isn’t any noticeable difference in color. If anything, I would say I get more color out of the tube, but that’s because I scrape such a tiny amount out of the pot and I lose some product as I spread it with my finger. I have less control of the amount that comes out of the tube, which leads to more color on the lips. Consistency of the tubed one feels a little thinner, which is to be expected.

I have wanted these for the longest time! I think I could just stare into the juicy depths of Wild Rose for the whole time, LOL.

I am put off by the whole pot thing, but somehow I want these so badly that I would literally go and wash my hands every time I wanted to reapply – how’s that for dedication to a product I don’t own and have never tried? 😛

Thanks for the tip! I keep meaning to go the ASOS route – everyone reminds me about it when I whinge about not being able to get product X 😀 Now I just have to wait for the teaching jobs to start again at Uni so I can afford a couple of treats!

I just started getting into Korres products so I’m kinda disappointed it won’t be available at Sephora soon. I wanted to try these butters after hearing so much about them but the wear time is so short!

What are your thoughts on the hydration part of it? Do you think it actually hydrates the lips? I struggle to find something that keeps my lips looking good. They’ve been so dry this winter. Everyone swore by Creme de rose but that did nothing for me.

I strongly dislike these lip butters, to be honest. [insert hard of hearing ears being able to hear screaming death threats from the entire world, lmao, jk] They made my lips so much drier. It was awful.

I love these. Really sad that Sephora is phasing this brand out. They stopped carrying my favorite lipstick from them a while ago. Ordering online is a pain if you only need one lip balm. Just googled it and looks like Beauty.com has the brand now. I prefer not to shop there, but guess I’ll have to.

I really didn’t like these. I thought the one I tried was really bad. It always just felt like a layer of gunk on my lips, no hydration, but just this weird….suffocating…gunk. I didn’t find there to be anything buttery about it, and once it wore off, my lips looked and felt more dry than before. I honestly think this was the worst lip product I’ve ever tried. :/

What an opposite experience! But I’ve had that happen to me with other raved about lip products, which makes me think that there are “good-for-you” lip ingredients that work really well for some and TERRIBLY for others!

I suppose it’s like this with most cosmetics, but did you see the list of ingredients? The first ten ingredients are chemicals. If I just want a lip balm or butter, I’d choose something with more natural ingredients. Silly huh? I use tons of cosmetics with all those weird ingredients, but for a balm I want something simple with beeswax and oils as the main ingredients.

I love the wild rose lip butter. Actually I love the wild rose line. Here in Greece, Korres products are so cheap. I also have the plum lip butter. I tried to find it but I believe that is discontinued. It doesn’t exist either in international website or in greek website. You should try the Jasmine one, it’s amazing.

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